1. Field of the System
The present system relates to field programmable gate array (FPGA) devices. More specifically, the system relates to an input/output first in/first out module for an FPGA.
2. Background
FPGAs are known in the art. An FPGA comprises any number of logic modules, an interconnect routing architecture and programmable elements that may be programmed to selectively interconnect the logic modules to one another and to define the functions of the logic modules. To implement a particular circuit function, the circuit is mapped into the array and the appropriate programmable elements are programmed to implement the necessary wiring connections that form the user circuit.
An FPGA core tile may be employed as a stand-alone FPGA, repeated in a rectangular array of core tiles, or included with other functions in a system-on-a-chip (SOC). The core FPGA tile may include an array of logic modules, and input/output modules. An FPGA circuit may also include other components such as random access memory (RAM) modules. Horizontal and vertical routing channels provide interconnections between the various components within an FPGA core tile. Programmable connections are provided by programmable elements between the routing resources.
An FPGA circuit can be programmed to implement virtually any set of digital functions. Input signals are processed by the programmed circuit to produce the desired set of outputs. Such inputs flow from the user's system, through input buffers and through the circuit, and finally back out the user's system via output buffers referred to as input/output ports (I/Os). Such buffers provide any or all of the following input/output (I/O) functions: voltage gain, current gain, level translation, delay, signal isolation or hysteresis.
The input/output ports provide the access points for communication between chips. I/O ports vary in complexity depending on the FPGA. FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating a basic I/O circuit structure 10 as well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. I/O circuit structure 10 comprises an output buffer 12, an input buffer 14 and an I/O pad 16. Output buffer 12 receives signals from the FPGA core via output signal line 20. When the output buffer is enabled by a control signal sent through the output enable control line 18, output buffer 12 provides a signal to I/O pad 16 via output signal line 22. Input buffer 14 provides a signal to the FPGA core via input signal line 24 when the input buffer is enabled by a control signal sent through the input enable control line 26. Input buffer 14 receives a signal from I/O pad 16 through input line 28.
FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating an I/O circuit structure 30 having registers. I/O circuit structure 30 comprises an I/O pad 32 coupled to output buffer 34 coupled to the FPGA core (not shown) through register 36. I/O pad 32 is also coupled to the FPGA core through input buffer 38 and register 40. Output buffer 34 receives signals from the FPGA core through register 36 via signal line 42 when register is enabled and provides the output signal to I/O pad 32 via signal line 48. Input buffer 38 receives signals from I/O pad 32 via signal line 50 and provides signals to the FPGA core through register 40 via input signal line 52.
As set forth above, FPGAs are programmable digital logic chips. A board level digital system is comprised of a printed circuit board with several digital chips interconnected to perform a digital function. Complex system level tasks are realized by smaller tasks that are carried out by specialized dedicated chips. The chips are then connected together to provide the overall system function.
The communication between the components of a system can be described by the signaling and the data format. The device's input/output (I/O) ports provide the signaling format. For example, the signaling format may be 3.3 V PCI, low voltage transistor transistor logic (LVTTL) or low voltage differential signaling (LVDS). The data format for communication between chips is system dependent. Some of the system dependent parameters include the bus width and the clocking scheme. For example, data can be transmitted bit-wise serially or n-bits in parallel. Also, the clocking of the transmitters and receivers can be synchronous or otherwise. First-in/first-out memories (FIFO) are often used in systems to bridge data flow gaps between chips. Data flow gaps are the result of chips working with different clock rates, different clock skew, different data bus widths or readiness differences of two chips to send or read packets of data.
A FIFO is basically a SRAM memory with automatic read and write address generation and some additional control logic. Counters are used for address generation. The data sequence read from a FIFO memory is the same as the data sequence written to its memory. The sequencing of the write and read addresses is controlled by the control logic.
Circuits implementing a FIFO function are often used for transmitting and recovering data. In these applications, data can be received until the FIFO memory has become full, often indicated by a FIFO-full flag. Data can also be read from the FIFO until the memory has become empty often indicated by a FIFO-empty flag. Read and write operations need not be synchronized to each other.
FIFOs are suited for applications requiring frequency and phase coupling. The FIFO provides the means to pass data between one clock domain and the next. The write clock and the read clock need not be locked in frequency or phase to pass data between the clock domains. One example is a transmitter sending data at 66 Mbits/second serially and the receiver processing data in bursts at 132 Mbits/second. The receiver FIFO would have its write clock operating at 66 Mhz and the read clock at 132 Mhz. Handshake signals are required to prevent data from being lost at either the full or empty states of the FIFO. The empty and full flags provide such handshake control. Some applications have the write clock and the read clock at the same frequency, but the clocks are not locked in phase. The FIFO provides the means to pass data from one clock domain to the next.
FIFOs are also well suited for applications requiring data bus width matching. An example would be when data into the chip is wider that data inside the chip. Another example is when the data bus width internal to the FPGA is wider than the data bus width in the off chip direction.
An FPGA is capable of implementing a FIFO function. However, the implementation would require programming all of the FIFO components, the address counters, flag logic and memory into the FPGA's core logic. The implementation would consume a considerable number of logic modules and the performance would be dependent on the FPGA architecture.
Hence, there is a need for an FPGA that has dedicated logic specifically included to implement an input/output FIFO function. There is also a need for an FPGA that has dedicated logic to implement the FIFO control and flag logic. Ideally, the input/output FIFO logic would be included among the logic components in an FPGA core tile. Hence, what is needed is an FPGA having dedicated logic to implement a FIFO function. The result is improved performance and a decrease in silicon area needed to implement the FIFO functions due to the small silicon area needed to implement the FIFO function with dedicated logic.